^lortlatth © bserucr____________________ PageA4 April 29. 2009 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news @ portlandobserver. com. College Basketball’s Dirty Little Secret Coaches must be held accountable M arc H. M orial by There is a dirty little secret in college bas­ ketball. The sad truth lurking just beneath the surface of March Madness is that each year a large number of ath­ letes - mostly black -play their hearts out for coaches whose salaries continue to rise, while graduation rates for their student-athletes re­ main unacceptably low. And'with only about one percent of college basketball players making it to the NBA each year, I am reminded of the words of William Gates, a struggling student-athlete featured in the 1994 docu­ m entary, Hoop D ream s. "People always say to me," he said, "when you get to the NBA, don't forget about me." Well, I should've said back, "if I don't m ake it to the NBA, don't you forget about me." I haven't for­ gotten about Wil­ liam Gates or the th o u sa n d s o f other young men like him who bring fame and fortune to th e ir c o a c h e s and schools only to be left with no diploma and no future when the game is over. What has prompted my lat­ est outrage is the announce­ m ent that form er UM ass and M emphis coach John Calipari has just signed an eight-year, $31.65 million contract to coach the Uni­ versity of Kentucky basket­ ball team. Calipari has a history as one o f the w inningest coaches in college basket­ ball. But he has also been associated with numerous NCAA violations and his rates of his players? The college graduation rate for all NCAA basket­ ball players hovers around 45 percent, with black ath­ lete graduation rates about 20 percent lower than the average. I find it troubling Shouldn't there be some correlation between a college coach's salary and the graduation rates of his players? players have some of the lowest graduation rates in college basketball. The ques­ tion must be asked: shouldn't there be some correlation between a college coach's salary and the graduation that colleges and coaches who would not tolerate that kind of mediocrity on the basketball court are all too willing to accept it in the classroom , all for the lure of big money. A ccording to New America Media, the nation's largest consortium of ethnic news organizations, in the 1990s top caliber athletes in­ dividually generated more than $ 5 00,000 fo r th eir schools, and the six-year contract the NCAA has with CBS for March Madness is worth $11 billion. To its credit, in 2004 the NCAA began to assess pen­ alties for schools having graduation success rates of 60 percent or lower. These sanctions include loss of scholarships and potential restrictions on post-season play. According to an analysis by the University of Central F lo rid a , 65 p e rc e n t (37 teams) of this year's men's tournament teams graduated 60 percent or more of their white basketball student ath­ letes, while only 42 percent of schools (26 teams) gradu­ ated 60 percent or more of their African American bas­ ketball players, resulting in a 23 percent gap. These num­ bers are a slight improve­ ment over past years, but still not good enough. It is clear while college basketball is enriching the coffers of major schools and coaches; it is not a guaran­ teed ticket out of poverty for the players. S chools should base coaches salaries on gradua­ tion rates, and student-ath­ letes need to place more emphasis on their first obli­ gation - getting a good edu­ cation and earning a college degree. Marc H. Morial is presi­ dent and c h ie f executive officer o f the National Ur­ ban League. Guns are Wreaking Havoc Throughout America level to set up community hard, spending millions, to policing programs to help keep the federal g overn­ liv e s to gun residents feel safe and to m ent out o f th e gun violence this establish youth centers that industry’s business matters. The NRA claim s to be keep young people off the year. fig h tin g fo r A m e ric a n ’s E very day, street and away from guns. more than 80 people in this c o u n try are killed by a gun while another 200 are shot and injured. No other de­ veloped nation has a higher rate of gun violence than Am erica. No one and no place is safe: Senior cen­ This approach has brought constitutional rights. But, ters, churches, businesses, some success, but local pro- during the course of their s c h o o ls h av e all been g ram s can o n ly do so c ru s a d e , th e y ’ve a lso much. Federal oversight is fought ag ain st proposed marred by gun violence. legislation that would have For years, this country needed. extended the waiting period The National Rifle Asso­ has struggled with ways to for gun buyers, severely combat gun violence. Nu­ ciation. the nation’s largest m erous advocacy groups and m ost p o w erfu l gun lim ited the sales of auto­ have worked at the local lobby, has fought long and matic firearms and forced No one and no place is safe by J udge G reg M athis In the la st m o n th , more than 40 people, across the country have lost their lives to gun vio­ lence in very high pro­ file cases. In Binghamton, N.Y., a gunman killed 13 people before shooting himself. In Pittsburgh, a reported white supremacist shot and killed three police o fficers. In Oakland, Calif., three more officers were shot down in the line of duty. S ad ly , th ese v ic tim s , spread across the country, in places like North Caro­ lina, Florida and Alabama, are just a small percentage of those who will lose their No other developed nation has a higher rate o f gun violence than America. gun makers to add m anda­ tory child safety locks to all handguns. Regulation isn’t the only answer to our country’s gun problem. Indeed, guns don’t kill people, people do. How­ ever, with so little regulation of the gun industry - a child’s teddy bear is more heavily regulated than a hand gun is - it is difficult to make sure firearms don’t end up in the wrong hands. As A frican A m ericans, we should be particularly concerned about this issue. We make up about 12 per­ cent of the U.S. population, but account for 26 percent o f the c o u n try ’s g u n -re ­ lated deaths; th at’s about 21 people - black people - killed by guns each day. P re sid e n t O bam a has promised that his administra­ tion will not be ruled by spe­ cial interest organizations like the NRA. Let’s take advan­ tage of this opportunity. Write your U.S. Senators and Congressmen and men­ tion the recent headlines but also write about someone you know personally who lost their life to gun violence. Ask them to start talking about gun regulation and gun con­ trol in Washington. Let them know that safe streets are as equally important as jobs and a stable economy. Ju d g e G reg M a th is is vic e p r e s id e n t o f R a in ­ bow PU SH and a board m em ber o f the Southern C h r is tia n L e a d e r sh ip C onference. Black Caucus Endorses Lifting the Embargo on Cuba Black Caucus has it right by W illiam R eed A recen t Black C aucus delegation visit to Cuba has riled up America’s anti-Fi­ del Castro forces who are against lifting the 47-year-old trade and travel embargoes of that island nation. Presi­ dent Barack Obam a pro­ poses lifting travel restric­ tions on Cuban-Americans, but Black Caucus delegation members say the larger eco­ nom ic blockade of Cuba should also be brought to an end as well. Over the years, the Black Caucus has sought trade and travel with the Caribbean co u n try ju st 90 m iles o ff U.S. shores. A Congressional Black Caucus 2000 delegation set up a model for the two countries working together. R egarding the subject of underserved medical needs of Am erican inner cities, Castro suggested granting scholarships to low-income youths selected by the Con­ gressional Black Caucus to com e to Cuba and study medicine. The 2009 delegation found over 100 American students - more than half of them black - enrolled in the pro­ gram at the Latin American School of M edicine, the prominent part of the Cuban healthcare system and pos­ sibly the largest m edical school in the world. The Black Caucus’s schol- New York-based group that receives and processes the applications for the scholar­ ships, says "We see it as a tremendous opportunity to help provide quality medical care in underserved commu­ nities.” (According to the Cuba’s 21 medical faculties all train young people o f poor families from throughout the Americas. U.S. Census, only about 5 percent of U.S. doctors are black) At the recent Summit of the A m ericas, P resid en t Obama suggested that the U.S. could learn a lesson of iw Purtlanb U)b»erurt goodwill from Cuba. In 1998, C uba’s government began Attrr. Subscriptions, PO Box 3137, RllOut&SendTo: RitlndOR97208 programs to send large-scale | medical assistance to poor | subscriptions are just $60 per year (please include check with this subscription form) | populations affected by natu­ I N ame : ~ ___________________ T elephone : _________ I ral disasters. Each year some I A ddress : _______________ ___________ __________________! 2,000 young people enroll at the school, which operates o r e m a il subscriptions@ portlandobserver.com I from a former naval base in a suburb of Havana, as well Portland Observer welcomes freelance sub- TInrtlanb (Dbscruer Established 1970 The m iM io M Manuscripts and ph<»tographs should be as hundreds of A frican , USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0 ________________________________ clearly labeled and w ill be returned if accompa­ nied by a self addressed envelope A ll created Arab, Asian and European 4747 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd., Portland. OR 97211 design display ads become the sole property o f students. The country sends the newspaper and cannot be used in <4her pu b li­ EniwK-iN-CHirr. Pi b u s h m . Charles H. Washington cations or personal usage without the written con­ teams of doctors all over the EoiToe.Michael Leighton sent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad © 200R world to respond to natural D istribution M anao £ x : M ark W ashington T H E P O R T L A N D O B S E R V E R A L L R IG H T S R E S E R V E D , R E P R O D U C T IO N IN W H O L E OR C rtativb D irector : P aul N e u fe ld t disasters. Cuban doctors IN PA R T W IT H O U T P E R M IS S IO N IS P R O H IB have provided medical ser­ Posnusrai: Send address changes to Portland Observer, IT E D The Portland Observer -Oregon's Oldest M ulticultural Publication- is a member of the N a ­ vices to the underserved in P0 Box 3137, Portland. OR 97208 tional Newspaper Association -Founded in I K 5 . and T h e N atio n al A d vertisin g Representative Africa for over a decade. CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-001 5 A m algam ated Publishers. Inc. N ew York. N Y . iidi^^aülaadsluenxLisw Blacks' views of relations and The West Coast Black Publishers Ass